Roy doesn't think the team was lacking effort? Fuck that. The ONLY players who play hard EVERY night, regardless of how well they play, are Martell and Bayless, end of conversation. Tonight? No effort.
Well, this thread's been fun. The only thing missing is Toko and it is nights like these that I wish Odenisgod wasn't banned. It should be a fun flight to Utah.
With his past shady dealings staining his reputation like exploding red dye packets in a bank haul, McHale fits the new Blazers image almost as well as Gruber from McHale's Navy. The Great comedy magician/character actor Carl Ballantine, who played Lester Gruber, passed away Nov. 3rd at 92. RIP
I see a pattern developing with ZBO...come back to Portland with not so good teams and win. I bet he enjoyed his visit.
Wow, I'm sad to hear about Carl Ballantine. A great comedy magician in vaudeville and then TV casting agents ignored him. I liked him as a kid and then about 5 years ago I watched him on a PBS show about the history of vaudeville. McHale signed Joe Smith when he wasn't supposed to. Sounds no worse than Pritchard's tricks of not playing Miles to get cap space on a freak medical rule, or not playing LaFrentz to get his salary paid on a freak insurance rule.
Aren't we full of those players? Batum is a defensive specialist. Webster, Rudy, Blake, Joel, Outlaw are all very effective role players in this league that other teams would love to have.
So I just finished watching this game and reading the thread and responding as you have seen. First of all, we lost this game because Webster was yanked out of the game midway through the 1st. It made absolutely no sense and I'm sure it excited the Memphis fans, players, and coaches. "What? We don't even have to get him into foul trouble? Sweet!" It didn't surprise me after the game, when I looked at the boxscore, to see that Webster was the only Blazer with a + tonight. He should've played all 48 minutes. As for Oden's exit, it's frustrating because, while he actually didn't play all that great in his first tour of duty, I think you need to give him time to feel out his opponent. He didn't get that time tonight and Joel did nothing in his place. Oh and Blake was completely unprepared to play. He was incompetent. Bricking two free throws when we're getting killed and then throwing an open three point shot off the side of the backboard. Horrible. I've been a Steve defender in the past but his performance tonight was unprofessional. All of that said, I actually ENJOYED watching the game tonight. Don't get me wrong. I hate losing and I am bummed. But a 31-2 run goes beyond depressing. It was kind of stunning. I can't even wrap my arms around how that could happen? Props to Memphis? But then it was sooooo much fun to watch the inevitable comeback. When down 29, it's fun to dream about the thrill of coming back and winning. I actually said to myself "We'll probably make it fun but lose by 10" and sadly, I was exactly right. So it sucks we lost BUT... watching Miller swish a killer three, watching Miller's ball fake turned three point play, watching LMA's three point shot go in, watching Oden's block of Gasol that actually gave me a belief we might win.... it was fun! And then we lost. But I'm pleased with 12-6. Of course, I'd rather have us be better, but I definitely believe this loss gives us an edge going into the Jazz game and I expect us to win there. And after two full days off, I expect us to beat Miami in Portland. That will make us 14-6. .700. I'll take it. Go Blazers
I put a lot of the blame on Roy for the team poor form. He's not the same guy. He's hogging the ball and failing to fill an identity. If he's having trouble finding his niche, as the captain, then we can't expect the rest of the team to fare better. Roy had summer off this past offseason, still picked up thousands of peoples lifetime salaries in an 80 million dollar contract, and then hasn't decided to show up. Not good enough. Very disappointing from the teams 'leader'. He's just coasting, you can see it. F all defense. Ball hogging. As for Aldridge, well he's a meat marshmellow man. Soft as a pillow. What great value at 65 odd million. These guys should grow a set and show some pride on the court. Absolutely spew worthy start to this season for such a 'talented' squad. Oh yeah, FIRE NATE!!!
He's actually handling the ball less this year, but OK. He also had 9 assists tonight. Putting this loss on one player is a joke.
He had good stats to finish the game, but didn't play well IMO. I don't put all the blame for this particular loss on Roy, moreso on Nate for mismanagement of the team.It's just, without the 'Real' Roy, the Blazers are like a rudderless ship without its captain.
Using ESPN's definition of efficiency, here is the game's eff per minute, times 100, rounded off. eff/min..total eff..minutes..player 117 46.8 40 Marc Gasol 115 43.6 38 Martell Webster 114 29.6 26 Jamaal Tinsley 111 46.8 42 Brandon Roy 109 19.6 18 Hasheem Thabeet 107 29.9 28 Greg Oden 091 31.8 35 Zach Randolph 083 34.9 42 O.J. Mayo 070 14.7 21 Andre Miller 062 05.6 09 Sam Young 056 23.7 42 Rudy Gay 053 23.7 45 LaMarcus Aldridge 050 03.0 06 DeMarre Carroll 045 09.9 22 Mike Conley 026 04.6 18 Rudy Fernandez 024 04.0 17 Joel Przybilla 007 00.2 03 Dante Cunningham -03 -0.6 24 Steve Blake -05 -0.2 04 Jerryd Bayless http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailyleaders?date=20091127&gameId=291127022
